


Truth or Dare

by Ruefully_yours



Series: Party Games [1]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Party Games Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-06-02 03:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19433254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruefully_yours/pseuds/Ruefully_yours
Summary: How do you admit to yourself that you've fallen for someone?.Through party games, of course.





	Truth or Dare

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lunarlychallenged](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarlychallenged/gifts).



> It's been awhile since I last posted some content in my writeblr. 
> 
> To those who don't know anything, I do this thing wherein I force myself to write something on my birthday to remind me that despite all the flaws, I can create something good- occasionally. 
> 
> Anyway, I dedicate this to my friend, the ever so lovely Ally. She's known as lunarlychallenged here in ao3.
> 
> I may or may not follow this story up. We'll see. 
> 
> Prompt: Dare: Serenade the person you can fall in love with- the person that could tame you.

Whispers and excited murmurs broke out as people gathered in a circle, eagerly awaiting their latest victim in another round of truth or dare.

You rolled your eyes. You just couldn’t find the appeal of these party games; Truth or Dare, specifically. What’s the point of asking friendship terminating questions when people can just flat out lie? What’s the point of doing something that will only hurt you and haunt you for the rest of your life? A stupid action that can humiliate you for as long as you shall live?

If you can have your way, you would rather spend your Friday night binging trash TV, spending half of that time loathing and berating yourself. And yet, here you were, the loner of the party, taking your role so well that you found a small nook to settle in while watching your best friend spend his night being the life of the party.

No surprise there since well, Race has always been a magnet for attraction.

“All alone?”

You jumped, startled as you turned and sagged in relief when you saw Crutchie smiling at you, wobbling his way next to you.

Scooting over so as to give him space beside you, you took in deep breath. “Gosh Crutch, if you’re trying to kill me, you’re doing an amazing job. I applaud you for that.”

Crutchie gave you a sheepish smile as he took the space you offered. “Sorry,”

“What are you doing here?” you asked in return, earning an amused look from your companion. “Not that I am being judgmental or anything but you don’t seem to be the type who-”

“-goes to rowdy parties like this?” He finished for you as you meekly nodded, ducking your head in embarrassment as he chuckled. “No offence, Y/N, but between the two of us, you looked like a deer caught in headlights right now.” he lightly tapped your leg as you both cringed at the hollers being thrown in the background.

You shrugged, eyes shifting from the party back to his. “Race begged me to break him out of his house to go to this party.”

“Isn’t he grounded?”

You gave him a tight lipped smile, tilting your head as you raised a finger, pointing to yourself as to prove a point.

Understanding dawned to his features. “Ah, the perks and curses of being the trusted friend.”

You nodded solemnly as silence fell between you two, both opting to watch the gathered crowd who are currently chanting words of encouragement as some dude chugged the whole tall glass of beer and… is that _tabasco_?

“Careful,” Crutchie murmured suddenly, nudging you with his shoulder, noticing how your eyes subtly shifted towards the blonde boy, who was laughing his ass off at the misery of that dude. “Or the poor boy might melt.”

You scoffed, carefully brushing off the fact that he caught you. “Crutchie,” you spoke as if you needed to explain something to a child. “Demons don’t melt. They thrive in the heat, remember? Race is Satan personified, therefore he can never melt.”

He let out a guffaw, earning a few turned heads at your direction, even Race who raised an eyebrow at the two of you. You, however, were busy shirking away from the judging eyes.

“Oh Y/N,” Crutchie wiped a stray tear from his eye. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re telling me your best friend is hot.”

“Sure, why the hell not? Oh and would you look at that, it’s raining M &M’s!”

Just as he was about to retort, a hand entered your vision, going over as to wrap around your waist, hoisting you up only to come face to face with Race’s grinning expression.

“Hi,” you let out a breath, confusion written all over your face as he leaned over to whisper to your ear.

“You know the drill, right?” he asked, his eyes twinkling in mischief as he nodded to the proxy dj, starting the music- that same old song he usually sings to you during these games.

You could feel your chest tightening as you plastered on that mastered smile on your face. You’re no stranger to your best friend’s shenanigans.

_Needed a trusted friend to break him out of his prison room?_ No worries.

_Needed someone to help him ride out his hangover before his parents see him?_ You got it.

_Needed a proxy girl- the one guaranteed to never fall in love with him as he serenade her during a game of truth or dare?_ Say no more.

You’re well accustomed to the drill- very much so if you’d say. It would always be like this- in every party you and Race attended to- he would always being dared to find that someone to serenade to. The someone whom he can fall in love to, the person that could tame his heart.

He was never interested, not that you are aware of. He may be an attention whore but he never misled any girls before. Which is why, he would always pick you- his trusted friend- to serenade to. Because you both knew that _he is just not interested._

“Just so you know,” your voice was barely audible and yet, you knew he could hear you. “You so owe me for this.”

He let out a small laugh, leaning over to whisper the last line of the song into your ear.

You rolled your eyes, ignoring the rampage of dinosaurs into your stomach, patting his arm as if to reject his advances towards you.

The crowd watching you broke into series of laughter while most gave him an applause for his performance.

You huffed, taking your place beside Crutchie, unaware of the curiosity in his eyes. “Every damn time. Why do people keep on daring him to serenade someone, luring them into making him think he’s-”

“Truth or Dare?”

You turned to your companion, eyebrow raised, throwing him a questioning look. Isn’t the point of the two of you being on the sideline is to avoid the messy game in the first place?

“Truth?” It came out as a question while he tilted his head as if he was trying to coax out something from you.

“You don’t sound so sure?”

“You sprung it out of the blue!” he laughed wholeheartedly, shaking his head at you.

There’s something about him that made you feel warm deep down. No, not in a romantic sense- you never saw him that way and you were sure that he never saw you that way either. It’s Crutchie being… _Crutchie_. The boy with a nice smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts and a personality that is as warm as a ray of sunshine.

And if you were asked, you would even dare say that out of your best friend’s friends- you trust this boy the most.

“Okay, my fault.” he nodded in acknowledgement as he rubbed his hands in anticipation, probably thinking of a question for you. “Let’s see… do you have romantic feelings for Race?”

“What?” You spluttered, looking aghast as the boy beside you grinned at you.

“Is my question too difficult?” he tutted, his smile letting you know he was teasing- but boy, it felt like your heart stopped just by the look on his face. “I’ll rephrase. Do you harbor any feelings- hidden, romantic feelings for your friend- your best friend, most specifically?”

Your breath hitched. No one… and you mean, not one soul ever knew about your feelings for- no, you’ve gotten good at hiding, pretending these emotions never existed so how on earth did he get a wind of it?

You hummed, shrugging as you tried to keep your composure in check.

You shouldn’t worry- not when you can flat out lie. That’s the point of the game right? Or at least, that’s what you believe in.

No. This is _Crutchie_ and you never _ever_ lie to him. If he trusts you too much with information that no one ever knew about- not even his best friend, Jack- then why would you lie to him in return? That’s not how your dynamic work.

“That’s not a no,” he observed after the silence between you two became unbearable.

“It’s not a yes, either.”

“A _maybe_ , then.” he paused. “Why don’t you just tell him?”

“No offense Crutch, but what’s it to you?” When he said nothing, you lifted your eyes to meet his curious gaze, waiting patiently for your answer.

Sighing, you looked back to the crowd, bringing your knees to your chest, the hollow feeling growing and growing as the minute passed. “Maybe… maybe I do like him and maybe,” you bit your lip, contemplating on whether to divulge the information to one of Race’s friends. Is it going to be worth it?

_Would this not hurt you in the long run?_

“Maybe I miss him with the huge gap between us. I mean-” your hands gesturing at the distance between him and you, chuckling bitterly. “I do miss him,” you said with quiet conviction.

“But maybes are dangerous and I would rather stay quiet.”

You could feel the weight of Crutchie’s sympathy as he patted your shoulder, his voice quiet yet audible enough for you to hear. “You’re hurting yourself.”

A heartbeat passed.

“Isn’t that the point of the game?”


End file.
